Alumni

Philip Leege ’57 ME

In 1998, Philip Leege ’57 ME completed a 41-year career with The Procter & Gamble Company. In working at P&G, he became chair of the Standards and Practices Committee for the U. S. Composting Council. His laboratory manual, “Test Methods for the Examination of Composting and Compost,” is considered the international standard for the industry. As chair, Leege helped to define the word “compostable” and management of the municipal-scale composting process, which paved the way for development of numerous recyclable consumer and packaging products in the United States and other countries. He currently works with a firm in Canada to engineer fuel ethanol plants for construction in several Canadian provinces. This is an outgrowth of his work with the world’s largest composting plant in Edmonton, Alberta.

Residence: Loveland, Ohio (a suburb of Cincinnati)

Education: Bachelor of science degree in mechanical engineering, Valparaiso University, 1957.

On his career: “When I graduated from Valpo, I had job offers from many different companies, but I chose Procter & Gamble because of the quality of its employees. My final assignment in professional and regulatory services and public policy development transitioned me into semi-retirement and work in the compost industry. It has been rewarding to see the industry grow from an art to one based on sound science.”

On his Valpo education: “Professors in technical physics and engineering demonstrated the scientific basis and predictability in application of sound science, which eventually became a personal mantra. Faculty standouts I remember most include Allen Tuttle, Willis Boyd, Vic Hoffmann, M. Alfred Bichsel, and John Lennes. Most of all, Fred Kruger ’44 became my lifelong role model for his knowledge of engineering, advice in choosing my career path, his Christian home, and service to his church, community and the university.”